Danish Gambling Authority successfully blocks illegal websites in record shutdown

The Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) has succeeded in its attempts to block access to 83 illegal betting websites in the country so far this year, eclipsing the regulator’s previous record of 82 bans in 2022.

Following a hearing on 15 February, the court in Næstved agreed with the DGA that all 83 websites included in the authority’s latest report must be blocked, with the verdict bringing the total number of illegal sites blocked to 359 since the gambling market in Denmark was partially legalised in 2012.

However, despite the record shutdown, DGA director Anders Dorph warned that the regulator would not be resting on its laurels and that further blockages would likely follow in 2024.

“We have intensified our work to shut down the illegal sites, so that we can now get them blocked twice a year instead of once as previously,” he said. “In this way, we can get hold of more sites and minimise the period where Danish players are exposed to games that are offered illegally.”

Dorph went on to explain that one of the regulator’s biggest challenges this year will be to further crackdown on illegal sites that specifically target underage gamblers as their main audience, with lenient requirements for age verification and ‘skin betting’ being key areas of focus.

Skin betting is a niche sector of online gambling that is thought to particularly appeal to children and young people. Covering betting, casino games and lotteries, customers’ winnings are issued in the form of a ‘skin’, which is a virtual object similar to the ones typically found in computer games.

Of the 83 illegal betting websites blocked in this latest round of closures, eight pages were so-called skin betting sites, with the others guilty of breaching a number of regulations including offering services in Danish language and Danish currency, supporting payment cards only used in Denmark and providing Danish customer support via Steam without possessing a DGA licence.